Iran elects on national level a head of state and head of government (the president), a legislature (the Majlis), and an "Assembly of Experts" (which elects the Supreme Leader). Also City and Village Council elections are held every four years throughout the country. The president is elected for a four-year term by the people. The Parliament or Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis-e Shura-ye Eslami) has 290 members, elected for a four-year term in multi- and single-seat constituencies. Elections for the Assembly of Experts are held every six years. Mayors will be elected by popular vote for the first time in 2013. All candidates have to be approved by the Guardian Council. See Politics of Iran for more details.

Until January 2007, when it was raised to 18, the voting age was 15 years, the lowest globally at the time.

The last presidential election and the last local elections were held on 14 June 2013, simultaneously for the first time.

2013 local elections Main article: Iranian local elections, 2013 2012 parliamentary election Main article: Iranian legislative election, 2012Women voting for first time in 1963

This election was seen as essentially a contest between conservative hardline factions as many of the reformist leaders were under house arrest in particular the two main opposition leaders. Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who ran for president in 2009. The reformist parties boycotted the elections although independents and women candidates did run.

State officials said the turnout was over 64 percent which is higher than the 57 percent in the 2008 parliamentary vote.

The result saw the conservatives now with 63.5% of seats in the Majlis (parliament). The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was seen as tightened his grip on Iran''s faction-ridden political climate at the expense of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.